TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s Liberals swept three special elections Monday, strengthening Prime Minister Mark Carney as he confronts U.S. President Donald Trump in an escalating trade war.
Liberals won Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches-East York in Toronto and North Vancouver-Capilano in British Columbia.
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Carney said the results amounted to an endorsement of his government’s approach.
“At this consequential time for Canada, voters have placed their trust in our government’s plan,” he said in a statement.
The Quebec result was the most striking. Liberal Daniel Gobeil won easily in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, a district held by the opposition Conservatives since 2018, while the Conservatives fell to third place. The region is home to aluminum producers, dairy farms and other industries caught in the escalating trade war.
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Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, said Carney is more popular in Quebec than in any other region of Canada and that Trump’s annexation threats carry particular weight there.
“Quebecers have the most to lose in an apocalyptic scenario where the U.S. absorbs Canada, and the status of the French language disappears,” Wiseman said.
The other two seats were previously held by Liberals. In British Columbia, Carney’s former deputy chief of staff Braeden Caley won North Vancouver-Capilano.
“The United States is getting a message tonight. Our leader has the support of the Canadian people,” Liberal lawmaker Hedy Fry told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in an interview.
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U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed Aug. 21 after the two sides failed to reach a deal, and Trump imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods. Canada responded with plans for tariffs on U.S. products.
Trump has escalated his attacks on Canada since the talks failed. He signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Canada had limited leverage in the dispute because the U.S. economy is roughly 13 times larger.
Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st state.
Carney has accelerated efforts to deepen economic ties with Europe and other partners.
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The Liberal sweep brings Carney’s party to 173 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons, further strengthening its position in Parliament.
The special elections were called after the lawmakers who previously held the three seats resigned from Parliament earlier this year.
Daniel Béland, a political-science professor at McGill University, said the easy Liberal win in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord likely reflected, in part, the popularity in Quebec of Carney’s Aug. 21 decision “to pull the plug on trade negotiations with the White House.”
Béland said the Conservative collapse there was also bad news for leader Pierre Poilievre. The party won the riding with 34% of the vote last year but fell to about 13% and third place Monday. “These numbers do look bad,” he said.
Carney won Canada’s election last year, fueled by public anger over Trump’s annexation threats, and he has vowed to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S.
